Don’t Include Christianity In Your List of Religions

By Charles Wagner

There is a church in my town that celebrates many faiths. Buddhists, Hindus, New Agers, and tree huggers are not only welcome in the church but I believe they are each afforded equal time in the pulpit.

How can this church community integrate and harmonize such diverse beliefs within their congregation?

The answer I come to is that they have created a false god who celebrates the creative ways that man can devise to make themselves right with him (or her, from their perspective). Their false god is a simple deity and easy to please. He/She asks only that the individual realizes their full potential and enjoys doing as they please as long as they are nice and don’t hurt anyone else. Mary wants to be a Buddhist? That’s wonderful (assuming she’s nice, of course). Daniel believes he can be “saved” by hugging trees? That’s wonderful (assuming he’s nice, of course). The last thing such a congregation wants to hear is a discussion about God’s wrath for sin. “She” is gentle and kind god, a motherly figure, and wouldn’t be angry at anyone (except really bad people, like those who talk about sin).

We can chalk this up to spiritual blindness. These people are not Christians. They simply don’t understand the true character of God, the depravity of sin, the holiness of the Almighty that demands justice, and the ineptness of good works and religion to save us from our sin. They don’t understand the indescribable love of our Father who has provided a solution for His wrath to be fully expressed in response to a man’s sin yet without consuming the human. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth for the sole purpose of receiving the wrath upon Himself for the sin that we all have committed. If we confess our sin and believe that our sins have been forgiven through the cross of Jesus Christ, we will spend eternity with our Father relishing a continuous relationship with Him.

However, one must beware of ever mixing these two different beliefs in the same church. Let there be a church that celebrates Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and New Age philosophy but keep Christianity far from it. Why? Because mixing Christianity with these other religions essentially accuses God of being evil.

Let’s imagine for a moment that God values all of these religions equally. A Buddhist dies and stands before Him. He’s welcomed into heaven because he was devoted to his Buddhist beliefs. A Muslim dies and stands before Him. He’s welcomed into heaven because he was devoted to Islam. A tree hugger dies and stands before Him. He’s welcomed into heaven because of how he loved nature and protected the environment. All three of these individuals “made it into heaven” without needing the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

The word “excruciating”, as in “I’m in excruciating pain”, is derived from the same word for crucifixion. In other words, dying on a Roman cross was a degree of pain few in history have ever experienced. Even secular historians have acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in Jerusalem. Jesus suffered pain that few in world history have ever experienced. Not only was the physical pain unbearable but so was the emotional and spiritual pain of being alienated from the Love of His life. For a few moments, Jesus received the anger of His Father in heaven for the sin of all believers throughout history. Jesus felt totally alone as He experienced total and complete misery.

We can make sense of this in Christianity when we realize that only the death and resurrection of the Son of God could save us from our sin. There was no other way for us to be saved except by God’s only begotten Son receiving His Father’s wrath while He hung on the cross. It was the most loving thing our loving God could do to save us. He was willing to sacrifice His beloved Son to save people like you and I.

Yet, if we treat Christianity like just another one of the valid religions we essentially render the agony of Christ as unnecessary. If I can be saved by being a Muslim, Christ suffered in vain. If I can be saved by being a Hindu, Christ suffered in vain. If I can be saved by being a Buddhist, Christ suffered in vain. If I can be saved by hugging a tree, Christ suffered in vain. If I can be saved by doing good works, Christ suffered in vain. If Christ suffered in vain, the only conclusion we can come to is that God is evil and wicked. He delighted in torturing His Son when it was not necessary to save people from their sin.

Anyone who concludes that Christianity is just another one of equally valid religions is actually accusing God Almighty of being evil and torturing His Son for no reason. That is an accusation I would not want to make before a righteous and holy God’s throne someday.

No! Christianity cannot be grouped with the other religions and philosophies of the world. It demands to be separate. If you want to attend a church that celebrates all religions and philosophies, make sure the church doesn’t celebrate Christianity. However, if you want to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, you can only attend a Christian church that embraces the good news of the gospel exclusively.